Attorney moves to toss case against SJSD board member’s eligibility for office

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (KQTV) -- A St. Joseph School District Board of Education member's attorney has filed a motion to dismiss a quo warranto suit.

On Tuesday, board member Kim Miller's lawyer filed a motion to dismiss the pending quo warranto against Miller.

According to court documents, attorney Jeff Davison writes that the "relators' amended petition attempts to invoke a statute that does not apply to the St. Joseph School District and to exercise a form of judicial removal power that Missouri law reserves, if at all, to the State through properly authorized quo warranto proceedings."

Five community members filed a suit against Miller on April 24. The lawsuit is challenging Miller's right to serve on the board following a Missouri Constitution violation that occurred during the March 24 board meeting. During the meeting, Miller voted and approved a personnel report that included her son.

According to the Missouri Constitution, any public official or employee in Missouri who appoints or names any relative within the fourth degree has to forfeit their office or employment.

The lawsuit states that the community members want the court to "grant relators leave to file this petition in Quo Warranto, issue a judgment of ouster declaring that respondent Kim Miller forfeited her office as a member of the St. Joseph School Board effective March 24, 2026."

Court documents also show that the lawsuit seeks to have any vote, motion, or other official action taken by Miller at any board meeting held after March 24, 2026, declared null and void and of no legal effect. The petitioners have also asked that Miller vacate her seat and refrain from any further participation in board activities.

SJSD teacher Dakota Allen filed the lawsuit, community member Sydney Pinion, the creator of the non-profit organization— Herzog-free SJSD— Cydney Puckett, SJSD parent Stacie Sanders and current SJSD Board member LaTonya Williams.

As of June 2, fellow board members and community members have called for Miller to resign. The district's legal counsel told board leadership in March that "if the board member voted to hire her son, then that board member has forfeited her position as a board member under the Missouri Constitution and the cases interpreting it."

The quo warranto case is back in court at 1 pm on Friday, June 5, in the Buchanan County Courthouse Division I.